Setting The Record Straight

Have you ever listened to Mozart? Not the music but what he said in his many letters. Just listen to him! “I have always had God before my eyes!”  And this. "If you thought how lucky were those who received the Eucharist, and at the communion the music spoke in quiet joy from the hearts of those kneeling there . Benedictus qui venit…”.  When he set the words of the Mass to music, he wrote,”…it comes to you and moves your soul!”

The Tango is a dance born from a Catholic sensibility, a balancing of desire against order. It was created in the La Plata region of South America. The Tango was born out of the cultural mix of the Gaucho’s European origins, the Catholic theology of the body, the artistic ferment in the societies of Buenas Aires and Montevideo, and Christendom’s creation of the romantic partnered dance.  All this arose upon the ruins of the New World’s most advanced and literate mission culture, that of the brilliant Guarani tribes that was developed under the nurturing of Jesuits before being destroyed by invasions of slavers.

Gauchito Gil is famous. Who is Gauchito Gil? Shrines to his honor and stories of his miracles are all over Argentina. Is he a saint? Well, sort of.  However just a few weeks ago Pope Francis did cannonize an Argentinian saint, a man known as The Gaucho Priest. What does the Tango have to do with all this…and with Catholicism?  Find out in Part One and Two of “The Gaucho Priest,The Pope, and The Tango”.

In the 1950s and the 1960s liberation theology was practiced throughout Latin American and beyond. What happened? Saint Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI happened ! Listen to their powerful words spoken as they dismantled Liberation Theology. The Church experienced a reformation once again     Liberation theology was is (or was) a synthesis of Catholic Theology and Marxist  socio-economic philosophy that emphasizes  concern for the poor and the political liberation for oppressed classes. That may sound attractive but the problem was  that its practitioners emphasized the  "Preferential option for the poor" over the true mission of the Church which is the more encompassing liberation of mankind’s fallen nature, from sin, though the sacraments.

Charming tales of the early Church can be gleaned from what is left of the Secret Archives of the Vatican. The precious Archives were under constant danger of being stolen or sacked. Some times the Popes had to flee with them on a mule train as is told in the extant “Book Of Mules and Other Conveniences For The Trip Of Paul III To Other Places”. Along the way Chuck relates the story of “Saint Francis and The Wolf of Gubbio”. 

Halloween is Catholic. Halloween was instituted by the Catholic Church despite the popular mis-historical theories of its origin.  Halloween is a slang word for All Hallows Eve. In other words Halloween is the Vigil of All Saints Day, a very ancient Catholic Holy Day that originally honored Catholic Martyrs.  In recent centuries our Halloween rituals have become debased by a secular overlay of horror movies and a tradition of destructive behavior. This podcast sets the record straight and concludes with a suggestion of how our parishes might revive the authentic devotional heart of Halloween.

Enjoy a few quiet moments of listening to these peaceful and reverent bits of writing that reveal the matchless Catholic culture at its most reverent and yet most substantial.. Included are profound thought of Hildegard von Bingen, John Donne the metaphysical poet, the freshness of Saint Patrick breastplate and the unique Gerard Manley Hopkins.

A devout Protestant minister just observed to me that the Reformation had the good effect, in the 16th and 17th centuries, of an unprecedented spread of Christianity caused by the flight of persecuted Christians from Europe. They ventured to the New World and other distant regions. Once again the huge achievements of Catholic missionaries before 1500 were unknown by a well-educated Christian. If you want to feel overwhelmed by the straight record, listen to these stories of the early Franciscans, Jesuits, other clergy, and one great Catholic layman. They were giants full of courage, toughness, and profound reverence.

History may not repeat itself but it does rhyme. The dilemma of our decomposing culture and our shattered society today is being fueled by ideologies very similar to the mass insanity that infected the French culture in the zany 1700s. You cannot ignore the past because it isn’t even over.

She is on her way back. Gaia the earth goddess has many followers of late. But Gaia has another face, a terrifying one. Romantic fantasies about primitive religions are common. One fantasy is thinking there is a benefit from merging all religions. This arises in part because what is commonly believed about various tribal religions is false. There is a false belief in the superiority of the exotic. The concept of the Noble savage is not just false , it is much worse that false. It is a damaging superstition.